East Java councillors clash

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Two councillors from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were involved in a clash on Wednesday, adding to the already tarnished image of the East Java provincial legislative council.

Zainal Abidin and Adhikara from the second largest faction in the council hurled glasses at each other and traded verbal attacks. No injuries were reported in the quarrel.

The clash occurred just two days after three members of the district legislative council in Mojokerto, 40 kilometers from Surabaya, were involved in a brawl inside the council's building.

The three, Anas Ma'ruf, Sutarno and Adi Santoso -- also members of the council's PDI Perjuangan faction, used sharp weapons in the quarrel. Sutarno sustained stab wounds in the neck.

Local police are investigating the case.

Zainal and Adhikara clashed shortly after attending a meeting of the council's commission D dealing with development affairs. The meeting discussed the plan to develop the province's southern highway.

It was unclear what triggered the incident.

Provincial councillors in East Java have come under fire from the public following their plan to make an overseas trip to several European countries.

Edy Wahyudi of Commission E from Golkar Party, who was still inside the room when the scuffle occurred, said Zainal and Adhikara were apparently involved in a "personal dispute".

The two flexed muscles when most legislators had dispersed from the meeting, according to Edy.

"I don't know what prompted the two men to engage in combat," he told The Jakarta Post.

When journalists entered the room to cover the incident, the clash had just about come to an end, though the rival councillors appeared pretty vexed when leaving the room.

Witnesses said the two PDI Perjuangan members had traded verbal abuses and thrown glasses to the floor.

Edy said the clash stopped after he and other councillors pulled Adhikara out of the meeting room.

Arif Junaedy of the National Awakening Party (PKB) confirmed the clash was sparked by a personal dispute and had nothing to do with the council's affairs.

Abidin, speaking to journalists after the clash, declined to reveal the cause of the scuffle. "It's normal, there was nothing extraordinary about it," he said.

The incident sparked uproar in the council's lobby building as local security guards tried to intervene.